NEWS Vol. 1, No. 1 NASA Launch Operations Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida December 13, 1962

MARINER 11'5 VENUS FLY-BY DUE TOMORROW Name Contest Prize Copped By Whiteside

c. A. Whiteside, Deputy Chief, of LVOD's Navigation Group, topped more than 500 entries to win the newspaper name contest with "Spaceport News."

He will receive a cash prize of $75, less withholding.

Whiteside edged three other entrants with similar titles.

Dr. A. H. Knothe, Technical and Scientific Staff, and N. F.

C. A. Whiteside

Hinds, LVOD Data Office, each submitted "Space Port News," and Patti Konneker of MSC offered "NASA Space Port News."

"Spaceport" was chosen as one word because it was de­scribed as "a catchword that best connotes Cape opera­tions." News was picked as being "concise and to the point".

The winning entry was se­lected as "symbolic of all

(See NAME Page 5)

WAY OUT - Artist H. A. Perez depicted Mariner II's flyby of the cloud-shrouded Venus with the above interpretation.

HOLD GREETING CARDS, SEND CASH FOR BASKETS

Employee interchange of Christmas cards will be fore­gone by many this season, so that underprivileged families in the area may receive need­ed food and clothing.

A device is underway to col­lect money that ordinarily would go for purchase and mailing of Christmas cards.

These funds will be turned over to Captain Vern Hall of the local Salvation Army, who will use them to provide food, clothing and other essentials to the most needy families within Brevard, without par­tiality to city of residence.

The idea for the drive was developed by Harry P. Shockey of the Vehicle and Missile Systems Group.

In a letter to LOC Director Dr. Kurt H. Debus, Shockey said, "Every year at this time the tiresome task of buying, addressing and mailing Christ­mas cards to the many people we work with and often see every day occurs. Wouldn't it be a gratifying gesture to do­nate to a NASA basket for

the needy?" Contributions should be for­

warded to the Support Ser­vices Office of the Adminis­trative Branch (LO-OA). Deadline is next Wednesday.

Names of donors and the total collection will be pub­lished later, and if the drive is successful it may become an annual event.

Four-Day Holiday Set For NASA Employees

NASA and' other Federal employees at Canaveral will have a four - day Christmas. holiday - courtesy of an ex­ecutive order signed by Presi­dent Kennedy.

With Christmas falling on a Tuesday this year, Mr. Ken­nedy has declared Monday, December 24th, a legal holi­day for Federal workers.

The time off will not· be charged to annual leave.

There will be no holiday de­creed for New Year's Eve, Monday, December 31st, how­ever.

'RECORD BOOK' VOYAGE BEGAN HERE IN AUGUST

Sometime tomorrow man may get his first closeup "glimpse" of the cloud~shroud­ed planet Venus through the "eyes" of the Mariner-II spacecraft.

If all goes well, the 447­pound, butterfly-paddled craft will pass within 21,000 miles of Venus and send back data on six separate experiments.

Launched from pad 12 at LOC last August 27th atop an Atlas-Agena rocket, Mariner­II has traveled close to 180 million miles during its his­toric 109 day journey.

It has already set innumer­able milestones, including transmission of intelligible signals from record distances in space.

If all spacecraft experi­ments perform well: • A detector will measure the density of cosmic dust. • A microwave radiometer will determine the tempera­ture of the planet surface and details concerning its atmos­phere. • A magnetometer w i I I measure changes in the plane­tary and interplanetary mag­netic fields. • An infrared radiometer will determine any fine struc­ture of the cloud layer. • A solar plasma spectro­meter will measure the in­tensity of low energy protons from the sun. • An ion chamber and par­ticle flux detector will meas­ure charged-particle intens­ity and distribution in inter­planetary space and near the planet.

Once Mariner-II has passed Venus, its mission will be completed and it will probably enter a permanent solar orbit.

Cal Tech's Jet propulsion Laboratory was responsible

(See MARINER, Page 4)

.S·~.QIL[b· ... ,~, .. ~

Page 2 SPACEPORT NEWS December 13, 1962

It is with great pleasure that I welcome Spaceport News to our growing NASA team. It joins other Center-level news­papers as a medium of expression by and for NASA employees.

Basically, every paper's function is threefold: to educate, inform and entertain, and Spaceport News will attempt this through news, feature articles, and editorials.

More specifically, it will provide a communications media so that each of us may get a better understanding of the purpose and objectives of our place in the nation's space programs.

Spaceport News will also discuss employee benefits and present news and features on individuals and departments. It will report on suggestion plans and award winners and community activities, and keep us appraised of economic facts and legislation that may affect us.

But above all, it is a newspaper by and for all NASA-AMR employees, and I urge that you give it your full support.

Kurt H. Debus Director Launch Operations Center

WE'RE A WEEKLY LOC this week launches its own newspaper, Spaceport

News. A weekly, the paper will average eight pages per issue and is designed to cover all NASA activities and peo­ple at Canaveral, as well as report on items of interest from other centers and from various contractors.

Being a weekly we will constantly be on the lookout for news and feature stories, and we plan to run the gamut from straight news to personal columns, and from features to editorials.

We welcome suggestions and will be most receptive to news tips. Although we are trying. to set up a correspondent in each major office at 'the Cape, there will always be areas that need coverage and we can just spread ourselves so thin.

Therefore, if you know of news or feature possibilities for the paper, call UL-3-6575 or 76 and pass the word along. A staff writer will follow it up.

We are specifically looking for contract awards, construc­tion progress, employee promotions, awards, retirements, speeches, people with unusual hobbies, etc. And, if a son of a NASA employee wins a scholarship, or a daughter wins a beauty contest, this again would make news.

With such a large area of activities at Canaveral it will be impossible to cover everything properly without the help of all NASA people here. So when you run across an item of interest, call us. Your fellow workers may be interested in reading about it.

SPACEPORT --.~

Published every Thursday under the direction of the Public In­formation Offi~_e ~f the National Aeronautics and Space Administra­tion's Launch Operations Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida.

RAISES ANNOUNCED; EFFECTIVE DEC. 9

Santa came early for all NASA crafts, trades and la­boring employees when salary increases became effective Sunday.

Following is a listing of the new wage board rates:

Non.Supervisory WB Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

1 1.79 1.88 1.97 2.07 2 1.95 2.05 2.15 2.26 3 2.09 2.20 2.31 2.42 4 2.23 2.35 2.47 2.59 5 2.38 2.50 2.63 2.75 6 2.52 2.65 2.78 2.92 7 2.67 2.81 2.95 3.09 8 2.81 2.96 3.11 3.26 9 2.95 3.11 3.27 3.42

10 3.10 3.26 3.42 3.59 11 3.31 3.48 3.65 3.83 12 3.54 3.73 3.92 4.10 13 3.67 3.86 4.05 4.25

Leader Wl

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12

Step 1

1.97 2.15 2.30 2.46 2.61 2.77 2.94 3.10 3.25 3.41 3.64 3.90

Step 2

2.07 2.26 2.42 2.59 2.75 2.92 3.09 3.26 3.42 3.59 3.83 4.10

Step 3

2.17 2.37 2.54 2.72 2.89 3.07 3.24 3.42 3.59 3.77 4.02 4.31

Step 4

2.28 2.49 2.66 2.85 3.03 3.21 3.40 3.59 3.76 3.95 4.21 4.51

Supervisory WS Step 1 Step 2 StJp 3 Step 4

1 2.53 2.66 2.79 2.93 2 2.83 2.98 3.13 3.28 3 3.12 3.28 3.44 3.61 4 3.26 3.43 3.60 3.77 5 3.41 3.59 3.77 3.95 6 3.55 3.74 3.93 4.11 7 3.70 3.89 4.08 4.28 8 3.84 4.04 4.24 4.44 9 4.03 4.24 4.45 4.66

10 4.18 4.40 4.62 4.84 11 4.49 4.73 4.97 5.20 12 4.80 5.05 5.30 5.56 13 5.11 5.38 5.65 5.92 14 5.42 5.71 6.00 6.28

Shift Differentials: 2nd Shift: _ .12 3rd Shift: _ .18

Adm. Boone Appointed Retired Admiral Walter F.

Boone joined NASA Decem­ber 1, as Deputy Associate Administrator for Defense Affairs.

His primary responsibili­ties are to strengthen the flow of technical and manage­men t information between NASA and the Department of Defense.

SPACE ALMANAC A CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS IN SPACE EXPLORATION AND RESEARCH.

Five Years Ago Dec. 1, 1957-Sputnik 1 re­

entered after 57 days in or­bit.

Dec. 6, 1957-An attempt to launch Vanguard TV 3 from the Cape was unsuccess­ful.

Dec. 17, 1957-The first Atlas ICBM, predecessor of the launch vehicle now used for manned Mercury flights, was launched from the Cape.

Three Years Ago Dec. 1, 1959 - N A S A

launched the third Little Joe from Wallops Island as part of the development program for Proj ect Mercury. The ve­hicle carried a monkey, Sam, 95 miles into space. Re-entry was successful and Sam was recovered.

Dec. 8, 1959-lVIaj. Gen. D. W. Ostrander, USAF, was named Director of NASA La u n c h Vehicle Programs, with responsibility for launch vehicle development and op­erations.

Dec. 15, 1959-A NASA team completed studies of de­signs for the upper stages of Saturn launch vehicles.

Dec. 16, 1959-Vanguard 3 became silent after emitting radio signals for 85 days. The satellite may remain in orbit until 2000.

One Year Ago Dec. 5, 1961- Discoverer

26, launched from Vanden­berg AFB on July 7, re-en­teredo

Dec. 12, 1959-'-:"'1iliscoverer 36 and Oscar were launched from Vandenberg AFB.

RIFT ASSEMBLY SET NASA's RIFT (Reactor in

Flight Space) nuclear rocket stage will be manufactured and assembled at Moffett Field, California.

It will be used to flight test NERVA (Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Applica­tions.)

The RIFT stage will be 33 feet in diameter and 88 feet long. It is to be flight tested in 1967 or 68 as the top stage of Saturn C-5.

December 13, 1962 SPACEPORT NEWS Page 3

Earth Orbit For RELAY Due Tonight

The countdown was sched­uled to be on today for RE­LAY - NASA's low-altitude, active reneater communica­tions sateiIite.

The 150-pound spacecraft is mounted atop a three-stage Delta rocket - the last NASA vehicle to be launched from Canaveral this year.

If all goes well, RELAY will be placed later today into an ellipitical orbit ranging from 800 to 3,000 miles above earth.

It is designed to: • Test transoceanic communi­cations via satellites. • Measure the amount of re­diation particles in its orbital path. • Determine the extent of damage caused by radiation to the solar cell power supply and electronic components.

Similar to Telstar, RELAY is capable of flashing televi­sion and radio programs in­stantaneously from one conti­nent to another.

Coverage includes South America as well as Europe and North America.

Built by RCA under a con­tract to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, RELAY is an eight-sided, prism­shaped object tapered at one end. It measures 29 inches in breadth by 32 inches in height.

The satellite's surface is covered with 8,215 solar cells which supply power to nickel cadmium batteries. These sol­ar cells are protected by a lay­er of quartz to protect them

NASA-AMR Score In United Fund Drive As Em·ployees Double 1962's $5,000 Goal

PASSING THE BUCKET is NASA Community Development Chief Paul Siebeneichen, left. He's handing a symbolic bucketful of money to Douglas Gra,ves, General Chairman of Brevard County's 1962 United Fund campaign. NASA·AMR employees raised $10',022 duro ing the drive - more than double their goal.

from excessive radiation dam­age.

Data transmitted from the satellite's four telemetry an­tennas to the worldwide NA­SA Satellite Instrumentation Network stations will be re­layed directly to the Goddard Space Flight Center's Opera­tions and Control Center.

RELAY satellites are ex­pected to operate at maximum efficiency in orbit and render useful data for one year.

The launch by a Douglas Aircraft crew, will be direct­ed bv Goddard's Field Pro­jects -Branch.

Holmes Authorizes Lunar Soil Study

A research program that will include studies of lunar soil characteristics, movement and excavation techniques is to be defined by the Corps of Engineers at NASA's request.

D. Brainerd Holmes, Direc­tor of NASA's Office of Manned Space Flight, author­ized the six-month, $100,000 study in a letter to Brig. Gen. T. J. Hayes, assistant to the Chief of Engineers for NASA support.

Study objectives are to: • Define the research and de­velopment effort required to provide a U. S. lunar research capability. • Define experimental facili­ties on earth needed to carry out such a research effort. • Prepare schedules and bud_ getary estimates required to carry out a lunar construction research program.

In addition to lunar soil characteristics, movement and excavation techniques, areas of research will include con­struction materials, structural design, power generation, stor­ing and handling of life-sup­porting atmosphere, water supply and sanitation, con­struction tools and human en­gineering and training.

NASA-AMR employees, so­licited separately as a group for the first time during the county's United Fund drive, topped all local organizations by collecting a record-setting 200.4 per cent of their goal.

NASA-UF Chairman Paul Siebeneichen, Community De­velopment Officer, said $10, 022 was raised during the month-and-a-half-long cam­paign. NASA's goal was $5, 000.

Some $260,147 was raised throughout the country. This was 95.6 per cent of the over­all goal.

Douglas E. Graves, UF's General Chairman, said NA­SA's contribution was "an outstanding accomplishment."

Goal Estimates In a letter to LOC Director

Dr. Kurt H. Debus, Graves added that the goal of $5,000 was established on estimated employment and the giving rate per capita experienced during last year's campaign.

NASA collected $2,100 in 1961 when participation was tied into the AFMTC.

Dr. Debus said, "I am, and NASA can be extremely proud of the showing made by the employees and contractors as­sociated with us."

"The fact that 200 per cent of our goal was achieved this year, with a total contribution of more than $10,000 is indeed an outstanding accomplish­ment."

A Child May Walk Siebeneichen added, "this

has been an extremely grati ­fying endeavor. Due to our efforts, a family may eat, an infant may find a new happy home, a child may walk again, a boy may leave the path of delinquency, and the cure of cancer may be a step closer."

Siebeneichen praised the work of John Donovan of Com­munity Development, who served as coordinator for the drive, and he thanked all con­tributors and employees repre­sentatives for helping make the drive successful.

United Fund money collect­ed in Brevard is divided among 18 local, state and national agencies.

A TINFOIL AND TIME exposure was used by RCA photographer Bob Special to produce this creative portrait of RELAY.

--

Page 4

MARINER (Continued from Page 1)

for the spacecraft system and space flight operations. In the Cape's JPL office, station manager Hank Levi and his staff of engineers and tech­nicians provided support for Mariner's assembly and check tests.

The test was conducted for NASA by the Air Force Space Systems Division and the 6555th Aerospace Test Wing of the Air Force Systems Command with General Dyna-

LIFTOFF - Atop Atlas-Agena mis Astronautics as the con­'cractor.

At LOC Dr. Kurt H. Debus was overall Test Director, and Charles Cope of the Light and Medium Vehicles Sys­tems Office, served as Atlas­Agena Project Engineer.

John Bell, Randall You­mans and Bennett Fultz, of LVOD Guidance and Control Office monitored the Atlas­Agena checkout.

Azusa, radar beacons and telemetry were monitored by Peter Minderman, Rob e r t Blanchard Jack Williams and Noble Hin~s of the Electronic Engineering office.

Robert Sayers and W. C. Brown of Mechanical Engi­neering monitored propulsion and systems.

Proj ect Engineer Cope was supported by Ed Mathews, Chief of LOC's Light and Medium Vehicle Office and Eldon Ward was Range Sup­port Coordinator. Dr. Adolf Knothe and Art Moore co­ordinated range safety with

. the Air Force Missile Test Center.

No more Mariners will be launched un til 1964, when Venus and also Mars will again s win g into target range.

SPACEPORT NEWS

SPIN TEST and checkout of Mariner-II was run by JPL Mechanical Engineer Jay Schmuecker at 'Canaveral last August prior to launch o·f the record-setting spacecraft.

VENUS TRIP FORESEEN A manned trip to Venus or

Mars within 20 years is the prediction of Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.

"We'll be well advanced in the use of nuclear power in space, both for propulsion of rockets and for auxiliary pow­er within orbiting satellites," he said in a recent interview.

"Around the year 1982 we will have already made, or be seriously planning, a manned journey to one of the near ulanets." • "And we'll be using nuclear energy rather routinely in satellites," he added.

BIDS OPENED TODAY ON ORSINO CAUSEWAY

Bids were opened today to select a road construction con­tractor for the Orsino cause­way.

The contract calls for sub­surface and paving of a six­mile, two-lane stretch from Canaveral across the Banana River to Orsino's industrial area site, as a part of the limited access causeway.

VENUS appeared crescent-shaped in this photo, taken from the Palomar Observatory.

Included will be a 90-foot double-leaf bascule bridge to span the river.

Awarding of the contract will probably be announced within the week.

Last month an $895,800 contract was awarded to the Gahagen Dredging Corpora­tion of Tampa for hydraulic fill in the river:

December 13, 1962

VAB Design Contract Let For $3 Million

The Corps of Engineers, acting for NASA, let a con­tract for $3,332,000 to four New York architect-engineer firms last week to design the vertical building for the 350­foot advanced Saturn C-5 space vehicle to be launched from Cape LC 39.

The building will be the dominant feature of the new mobile concept in launch com­plexes. Standing 48 stories high and approximately two blocks long, it is expected to cost $100 million.

Protection from wind, rain and sun, and the ability to as­semble and checkout more than one space vehicle in a single location are but a few of the building's advantages.

Checkout and vertical as­sembly of the Saturn stages will be done inside the build­ing on a combination launcher­umbilical tower. The assem­bled space vehicle and Apollo spacecraft with umbilical con­nections intact will then be transported by a tracked crawler to the launch site.

The four firms that will col­laborate on the building de­sign are Max O. Urbahn; Ro­bert and Schaefer Co., Inc.; Seelye, Stevenson, Value and Knecht; and Moran, Proctor, Mueser and Rutledge.

Their joint headquarters in New York will be at 636 Madi­son Ave.

VENUSIAN VIGNETTES Venus, our sister planet,

is just a shade smaller than earth. Because it is always shrouded in a dense, white c Iou d y atmosphere, we know little of what the planet's actual surface is like. N a m e d after the mythological god des s of beauty, Venus is believed to have seasons.

It is in a solar orbit 67 million miles out, or about 26 million miles closer to the sun than earth. It ap­pears so bright in our hori­zon that as late as 100 years ago a French warship tried to shoot it down be­cause it was thought to be an enemy balloon. More re­cently it has often been re­ported as a flying saucer.

December 13, 1962 SPACEPORT NEWS Page 5

RICHARD J. BURKE WINS 5460 AWARD FOR RING TRIMMING

Richard J. Burke ,a space­flight mechanic for LVOD on LC 34, received a suggestion award of $460 from MSFC Friday for devising a method to prolong the life of LN2 con­verter piston rings on 34's cry­ogenic pumps.

Dr. Kurt H. Debus, LOC Di­rector, presented the award to Burke in brief ceremonies and commended him for his money saving idea.

By prolonging the life of the piston rings from an aver­age of less than 10 hours each to 240 hours, Burke has saved the government more than $9,000 a year.

Using a sharp knife, Burke trimmed down the end of each ring to allow smoother piston performance.

LC 34 has two pumps with five pistons apiece and a pair of rings to each piston.

Burke, a 15-year Civil Ser­vice veteran, has been at Ca­naveral for seven years.

NAME (Continued from Page 1)

NASA activities at Canaver­al."

Judges were C. C. Parker, Deputy Associate Director, Administration and Services; Cmdr. S. J. Burttschell, As­sistant to the Associate Di­rector, Administration and Services; Emil Bertram, Tech_ nical Coordinator for the Apollo Spacecraft; S. E. Carl­son, Facilities Office Execu­tive Assistant, and Jack King, Chief Information Office.

Whiteside submitted 10 en­tries and expressed surprise at winning.

ACCEPTING congratulations for his money-saving suggestion is Richard Burke, center. Albert Zeiler, left, and Dr. Kurt Debus presented the awa<rd.

Bertram, Melton To Head Incentive Awards Groups

SAVINGS BOND DRIVE NEARING COMPLETION

NASA-AMR's Savings bond drive is nearing completion.

Chairman Wally Hudgins of Personnel announced there were 21 employees in the bond payroll savings plan as of last week.

He said there was an insuf­ficient number of bond appli­cations when the drive was first launched, but the pay­roll office now has some extra forms which may be obtained upon request.

The drive was launched last month when LOC Director Dr. Kurt H. Debus issued a memo­randum calling for "whole­hearted support."

Name Response- Excellent; Contestants-Imaginative

Response to the name-the-newspaper contest was en­couraging, almost overwhelming, and, at times, humorous.

More than 500 entries _ from "Ascending Astron" to "Zero Minus," and from "Apogee" to "Zoom to the Moon" ­were received by the Public Information Office.

< Participants responded to a November 20th memorandum that called for a name fairly short, clear, concise, and indica­tive of the NASA operation at Canaveral.

Titles ranged in length from "Pulse," to "NASA Space News Cape Canaveral, Florida, Frontiersman."

One employee submitted 14 different names, and many others sent in multiple entries. Most contestants displayed an imaginative flair, some as way out as our space programs. In fact, one proposed title was "The Way Out Report." An­other was "Out of This World."

Such key words as Cape, Lunar, NASA, LOC and Launch appeared in a good portion of the submissions, and Count­down was the most popular of all.

Some of the more exotic entries included: "Cosmoramo," "Capezette," "Astropaths," "NASAtorial Weekly,'" "Slip­stream," "The Blip," "Extraterrestrian," "Planetary Courier," and "NOVApollo News."

Many linked their lingo to the moon. These included: "Lunartoons," "Moonglow News," "The Lunar Rag," "The Lunar Trumpet," and "Moon or Bust."

NASA was also tied into several themes, including: "NASA's Morgue," "The NASA Beep," "NASA Nasties," "NASA Niceties," "The NASA Tattle-Tail," "NASAtellite News," and "NASA's Shooting End News."

A couple were slanted on the Florida theme: "The Sun­shine Spacial," and "NASA Palm Spacial,"

One security-minded entrant sent in "The Need to Know," and a safety-conscious employee used "The Non-Destruct."

Many were geared directly to launchings, including: "Blast Off News," "LOC's News Blast," "The Launch Thrust Commit," and "Celestial Blast."

Others of interest included: "Blockhouse Banter," "Cen­ter Sensor," "Space Aho," "Interstellar," "Look Ma, An Earth­man," "Mister Space," "Manned What?", "Three-Two-One," "Yawlines," "Peon News," "Rocket Docket," "Systems Go," "Space Hobo," "The Pulp Pad," and "Go - Go."

LOC Director Dr. Kurt H. Debus announced last week the appointment of two incen­tive awards committees-one for performance and honorary awards, and one for sugges­tion awards.

Emil Bertram, LO-H, has been selected Suggestion Chairman, and Lewis Melton, LO-FIN, is Performance and Honorary Chairman.

Both committees will work closely with Wally Hudgins of Personnel, who has been named executive secretary, In­centive Awards Committee.

Designed to encourage sug­gestions for improvements and to recognize accomplish­ments and achievements, the recently-formed Incentive Awards Program is also set up to strengthen employee­management relations and stimulate high levels of per­formance.

Committeemen chosen are responsible for determining eligible applicants and decid­ing the amount or type of award most appropriate.

Walt Barney, LO-C, is Vice Chairman of the Performance and Honorary Awards Com­mittee, which includes mem­bers Phil Claybourne, LO-H, Gerald Michaud, LO-P&C, and Charles Hall, LO-F, and alter­nates Grady Williams, LO-F, Robert Moser, LVO-G, and Ro­bert Gorman, LVO-M.

Vice Chairman for the Sug­gestion Committee is Ray­mond Daley, LO-F. Members include Robert Body, LO-Q, Michael Haworth, LO-P&C, Paul Siebeneichen, LO-U, Eu­gene Kapica, LO-FIN, William Pearson, LO-C, and alternates Wallis Rainwater, LVO-MV, Milton Chambers, LVO-GA, J. B. Russell, LVO-MF, William Jafferis, LOV-GN, and Terry Greenfield, LVO-GE.

Within the next few weeks representatives from each of­fice will be appointed to assist the committees in administer­ing the program.

METEOR DUE TO HIT The world is due to be hit

by a mile-wide meteor, claims Dr. Eugene M. Shoemaker of the U.S. Geological Survey.

"S tat i s tic s show that North America s h 0 u I d be struck by a large meteor once every 10,000 years," he said.

Page 6 SPACEPORT NEWS December 13, 1962

Debus Maps Lunar Plans For Local Rocket Society

Dr. Kurt H. Debus, LOC Di­rector, briefed members of the American Rocket Society Tuesday night on the sequence of events, following launch, that will lead to a manned lunar landing before 1970.

Speaking at the year-end ARS banquet at Patrick AFB's Officers Club, Dr Debus said, "the lunar orbit rendezvous will require the earth launch of a Saturn C-5, boosting a three module space­craft into a parking orbit".

"The spacecraft," he said, "will include a command module housing the crew, a service module providing a mid-course correction and re­turn-to-earth propulsion, and a lunar excursion module."

Dr. Debus explained the three modules will be injected into the trans-lunar trajectory to the vicinity of the moon and then placed in lunar orbit as a unit.

"Two astronauts will then transfer to the lunar excur-

PHOTO SYSTEM APT TO PICTURE CLOUDS

An experimental system for sending direct local cloud co­ver pictures from meteorolog­ical satellites to inexpensive ground stations has passed initial ground-based checkout tests.

The new system, called the Automatic Picture Transmis­sion Subsystem (APT), will require relatively simple ground station equipment costing about 30,000 per set.

It is expected to have wide application in weather anal­ysis and forecasting interna­tionally when it is perfected and put into orbit operation­ally.

Although designed for the NIMBUS satellite system, a preliminary flight test on the TIROS satellite may take place in mid-1963.

The APT subsystem in NIMBUS will enable meteor­ologists to obtain a few im­mediate local area cloud pat­tern photos of high quality when the satellite is within a 1700-mile range of a receiving station.

The cloud - cover photos, when the system is used in NIMBUS, will show an area about 1,000 by 1,000 miles.

sion module and descend to the moon while the Apollo mo­ther craft remains in lunar orbit," he said.

"After a period of explora­tion extending up to four days, the two men will use the lunar excursion module to as­cend from the moon to a ren­dezvous with the Apollo."

"Following crew transfer," Dr. Debus continued, "the lunar excursion module will be jettisoned, and the com­mand module carrying the three-man team will be boost­ed into trans-lunar trajectory toward earth by the service module."

"Just before entering the earth's atmosphere, the ser­vice module will be jettisoned and the command module ori­ented for re-entry and land­ing."

Dr. Debus supplemented his talk with slides, and told the ARS members the moon is only the stepping stone of fu­ture space explorations.

He observed the moon was the logical target for initial investigation of the universe.

"However" h e added "everything' learned fro~ space exploration thus far in­dicates the knowledge lying in wait for those who will ob­serve the universe from the moon or other planetary bod­ies, will be superior to any­thing uncovered to date."

"From these explorations," Dr. Debus concluded. "we may learn the origin of our uni­verse and the method of its functioning."

MSFC Readies Saturn Block II For Testing

A 172-foot-tall Saturn Block II space vehicle has been in­stalled in Marshall Space Flight Center's "shake table" dynamic test tower for check­out.

Being readied for man-car­rying missions, the Block II version includes several changes.

Among these are tail on the booster fins for better ve­hicle stabilization. The boos­ter tankage is six feet longer, to increase fuel capacity.

The Block II will carry a dummy Apollo spacecraft and a live second stage.

Dynamic tests on this con­figuration are scheduled to

SATURN STORY - Major Rocco Petrone, right, Chief Heavy Space Vehicles Systems Office, briefs Congressma,n Walter Riehlman (R-NY), center, and House Space Committee Staff Member Philip Yeager on the Saturn family of space vehicles during their recent tour of NASA facilities at Cape Canaveral.

GUEST CONDUCTORS in Saturn blockhouse 34 last week were new­ly-elected Democratic Senator Birch Bayh and his wife, Marvella, of Indiana. They were given a tour of NASA-Cape facilities, induding stops at Mercury Control and Hangar S.

run for about five months. Following these checkouts,

the Block II' vehicle will be shipped to Canaveral for flight testing.

First Cape launch is sched­uled for late 1963.

Getting Crowded Space is populated by stars,

pIa net s, asteroids, meteor­oids, comets and satellites.

Earth is only the fifth larg­est planet in our solar sys­tem.

December 13, 1962 SPACEPORT NEWS Page 7

Sigma Seven Model, Miss America, Floats To Highlight Parade

NASA-AMR's much travel­ed model Mercury spacecraft, an exact replica of astronaut Wally Schirra's Sigma Seven, will share the spotlight with Miss America, Jackie Mayer, in Titusville's Christmas pa­rade Saturday.

Sponsored by the Titusville Jaycees, the parade will also feature 40 floats, 10 bands and 15 marching units.

It will begin at 2 :30 p.m. at St. Johns Street and Wash­ington Avenue and' proceed north on Washington to Pal­metto, then west to Hopkins and north again for two miles. The parade will then turn around and go south on Wash­ington.

It will last almost two hours and will be televised in its en­tirety by WLOF-TV, channel nine, Orlando.

Jackie Mayer will also ap­pear at the Miss America Christmas Ball Saturday night beginning at 9 p.m.

Information on the parade ?r ball can be obtained by calL mg AM-7-3619 in Titusville.

WILLIAMS COMPLETES BE,C GRAD STUDIES

Jack Williams of LVOD's Flight Instrumentation Plan­ning and Analysis Group is the first Cape-based employee to complete graduate studies under NASA's evening course training program.

He has successfully com­pleted studies and tests at Brevard Engineering College for his Master's Degree in Space Technology and will formally receive his diploma next June.

A graduate of the Univers­ity of South Carolina (BS­Physics), Williams began his BEC studies in the summer of 1961.

His Master's thesis was on Ion Propulsion.

Warehouse Contract Let B u con Construction Com­

pany of Port Canaveral has been awarded a $207,900 con­tract to build a warehouse at Canaveral for use primarily in the Apollo manned space flight program.

The building will be located in the Cape's present indus­trial area.

"HE SAYS HE HATES . GHEEN CHEESE"

A LUNAR TOURIST BOOM? IT'S ONLY 30 YEARS AWAY

Have a yearning for faraway places? Looking for some_ thing out of the ordinary?

How about a trip to the moon - that is if you can wait 30 years?

That's how long it will be before commercial moon flights says H. H. Koelle, MSFC's director of future pro­jects. Such travel might be possible even sooner, Koelle says, if there is an unexpected breakthrough in rocketry.

"There is still a long way to go," he cautioned, "before space trips become possible for anyone other than test pilots. However, by 1980 or 1990 we can expect to open the first commercial space line to earth orbit and to the moon."

Koelle made his remarks in a recent reDort to the American Rocket Society's committee on missiles and space vehicles.

In the report he envisioned rocket-powered planes "large enough to transport more than 50 passengers into orbit at a time."

These planes would be big brothers of today's experi­mental X-15, and would have controllable engines to limit blastoff and touchdown speeds for the sake of passenger comfort.

Koelle said the hope was to see earth-to-orbit trips b~come a~ convenient and inexpensive as a trip to Europe, WIth a flIght to the moon no more expensive than a trip around the planet today.

He indicated this could be achieved by developing re­usable rockets so the "aerospace planes" could make many trips, like jetliners, rather than just one costly voyage as missiles now do.

Transportation Chief J. H. Herring admits he has had no requests as yet for the first flight.

m 0 r e explanation of howSoaee Related Books things work. Include "We Seven" The pro f i 1e of Glenn

Recent space - related book (Watts) recaps the story of releases include "We Seven" the first orbiting astronaut by the original astronauts, in clear, simple language. "Rendezvous in Space," by Martin Caidin, and "John H.

Skyscraper Status"We Seven" (Simon and Schuster) recaps the astro­ NASA's Vertical Assembly nauts flights into space via Building, scheduled for com­vivid first person accounts. pletion in 1965, will, at 450C aid in's book (Dutton)

feet, be the tallest buildinggoes further than Proj ect Mercury, and g i v e s much in the stateaf Florida. .

SOLUTION SOUGHT FOR STORMY SEAS

A study is underway at Canaveral for a solution to curb storm waters that have flooded the area fronting be­tween Saturn complex 34 and Titan pad 20 in recent weeks.

This location, facing the northeast, is particularly vul­nerable to storms from that direction.

The problem of flood dam­age has been known for some time and was accentuated dur­ing the recent nor'easter storm that hovered off the coastline for several days.

Thousands of gallons of wa­ter sloshed over man-made dykes, causing drainage prob­lems. This water has since been drained off, but a per­manent solution to the pro­blem is still being sought.

Two possibilities are being considered, either a jetty a few hundred yards off shore or a bulkhead along the coast.

Missiles and Rockets Features NASA Issue

Missiles and Rockets, the weekly magazine of space sys­tems engineering, came out Nov; 25th with its second an­nual NASA issue. .

Featured are an address by NASA Administrator James E. Webb and a comprehensive survey of the space effort by programs.

The magazine is on file in LOC's Technical Library in the E and L building.

LETTER OF THE WEEK Editor's note: Space ex­

ploration has excited the min d s of the nat ion's youngsters, and thousands write to NASA c en tel'S across the country request­ing i n form a t ion and photos, offering advice and volunteering for f u t u l' e flights. A large percentage of letters are addressed to the Cape, and many wind up in our mailbox. . From such- a volume, come a few gems of pure, unintended humor, and as a change-of­pace feature, the News will run. ,ol}e such letter e. a G1]. .w e E;:k. Here's the

. f.1:r~t.:~. , . _;.. . .. "What you shoLlld use

for rocket fuel is potassiu~ chlorate and s u gar. It works perfect jn my uncle's shotgun shells."

Richard S. San,ta Clara, Calif..

Page 8 SPACEPORT NEWS

IPURELY PERSONAL I The new Advanced Saturn

C-5 Branch of Heavy Space Vehicle Systems Office is the setting for one of the more un­usual reunions on the Cape.

Three of the complement of four - Branch Chief William Clearman Jr., Willard HaL comb and Charles Hart, are former employees of the Na­val Air Station in Jackson­ville.

All three not only worked as civilians there, but also saw active duty with the Navy during the war.

Lest there be too nautical a flavor to the group, the fourth man on the team. Richard Dutton, served with the Air Force.

Birthday Bulletins NASA people celebrating re­

cent birthdays include Robert Gray, chief, Goddard Field Projects Branch, last Wednes­day; security clerk Frances J ames, last Thursday; secur­ity specialist William Horner, Tuesday; security assistant Gordon Robinson, yesterday; Ernest Whitney, assistant chief, Delta Project Office, yesterday.

Today, security clerk typist Carolyn Warren blows out the candles, and tomorrow it's Bobbi Miller's turn. She's the secretary in Industrial Re­lations.

Diaper Derby New additions to NASA

families include Karen Ann, eight _ pound four - ounce daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Buckley. He's LOC's Security Office Chief.

Mr. and Mrs. James John­son welcomed a seven-pound, nine-ounce son, George, re­cently. The proud father is with Goddard's Field Project Office.

Artist Fred Bauer of Tech­nical Information, was pas­sing out cigars last week. His wife Lois gave birth to a five­pound, three-ounce girl, Kim, last Monday.

NASA TAPS TRAPP Robert F. Trapp, a nuclear

research specialist, has been named Chief of NASA's Man­System Integration Division in Headquarters Office of Ad­

o vanced Research and Technol­ogy.

He and his staff are respon­sible for research programs related to man, man-machine and manned systems to ad­vance the life science field for the total space program.

20-YEAR·MAN - Frederick G. Thorne, left, a Systems Engineer with NASA's Goddard Field Projects Branch at Canaveral, recently re­ceived his 20-year service pin and congratulations from Branch Chief Bob Gray. Thorne has been at the Cape since March, and is assigned to the Delta project. He joined NASA in August 1958.

CD Courses Commence In Cocoa, Eau Gallie

Two Brevard County Civil Defense classes began last week but interested employ­ees still have an opportunity to enroll.

A four-week course began Tuesday, December 4, at the Eau Gallie Junior High School, and another began last Thurs­day at Clearlake Junior High School in Cocoa.

The classes meet weekly and complete 12 hours of study.

Subjects covered include an introduction to nuclear explo­sion and protection measures against heat and blast, radia­tion fallout, family fallout shelters, first aid, role of the government in disaster, na­tional disaster in Florida, and community and family survi­val plans.

Persons desiring to attend these or other classes may call Brevard Civil Defense head­quarters - NE-6-2141 - for further information.

7 Astronauts Elected To Cocoa Beach C of C

Project, Mercury's seven astronauts, always welcomed as part-time Cocoa Beach citi­zens, were made honorary members of the city's Cham­ber of Commerce last week.

NASA NEWCOMERS NASA-Cape employees have

increased by 10 since the first of the month.

Instrumentation & Plan-­ning: Herbert B. Meyers., Bernon Gerald Hitchcock.

Personnel: William J. Holm. Launch Support at Hunts­

ville: James J. Hart. Launch Support at Hunts­

ville: Harold T. Dodson. Support Services: Leo A.

Dennison, James E. Miller. Technical Information Of­

fice: Mildred Konj evich. Program Coordination and

Management: Richard G. McNeill.

Financial Management: Julia S. Raney.

NASA Wives Meeting Held at Officers Club

Canasta and bridge were featured at last week's NASA Wives Club meeting, held at the Patrick Air Force Base Officers Club.

Following a luncheon of baked ham and the trimmings, Mrs. E. R. Mathews won the top door prize - a candy Santa jar.

Co-hostesses for the meet­ing were Mrs. W. E. Andruss and Mrs. W. E. Pearson.

NASA wives meet the first Wednesday of each month. Their next gathering will be on January 2.

December 13, 1962

NASA OFFICES PLAN ROUND OF PARTIES DURING YULE SEASON

The holiday season will be toasted during the next few days at a round of Christmas parties covering practically every NASA-AMR office.

Three LOC offices - Tech­nical Information, Program Coordination and Management and Security - combined for­ces for an early start with a dinner and dance last Friday night at the Indian River Ho­tel in Cocoa.

Manned Spacecraft Center and McDonnell personnel also held a joint party on the 7th. The semi-formal BYOB affair was held at the Cocoa Armory.

Several offices will hold their socials this week, begin­ning with the Financial Man­agement party at the Officers Club. The 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. cocktail hour will be followed by a turkey dinner at 8, and dancing from 9 till 1 a.m. The June Graham dancers will en­tertain at 10.

Procurement and Contracts has scheduled their dinner and dance tomorrow night in the Polaris Motel's Driftwood Room. Cocktails will be served from 6 p.m. to 8. Dinner be­gins at 8, and dancing at 9, with entertainment by the Harts.

Tomorrow night at the Hol­iday Inn in Melbourne, LOC Instrumentation and Planning will get together with Elec­tronics Engineering, Measur­ing and Tracking for a buffet dinner and dancing.

Electrical Engin eel' i n g , Guidance and Control has planned a BYOB party at the Tradewinds Cafeteria in Co­coa's Byrd Plaza Saturday evening. Dancing will follow the 7 p.m. dinner.

Heavy Space Vehicles Sys­tems, Technical and Scientific Staff, 'and Light/Medium Space Vehicles Systems will windup the parties next Sat­urday night at the Officers Club. Dinner and dancing will be featured.

Fashionable Footware At a recent exhibit in

Eau Gallie of NASA's Mer­cury model spacecraft, with a dummy astronaut inside, the following, exclaimed by a bug-eyed three-year-old, was overheard: "Gee, Mom­my, what big shoes he has."